John Richardson trains for the Mt. Mitchell Challenge with his dog Miss Grace. Eight years ago he had an aortic valve replacement.

Written by

Barbara Blake

For more than a few minutes after receiving the diagnosis that he would die if he didn't have immediate and significant surgery to replace a defective aortic heart valve, he "kept waiting for the 'Candid Camera' folks to come out - I was literally in disbelief, thinking it was a joke."

"I was 32, and when you're told you have a year to live unless you have this surgery, you can either laugh or cry," Richardson said. "Here I was in graduate school, studying theology, God, the meaning of life. ? I thought, 'Real funny, God, real funny.'" ...